Take Back the Land! Douglas Valley action camp

Opencast coal mining in the Douglas Valley is about the ruling class destroying communities for their own financial gain. Its about ecological destruction on a massive scale for capitalism’s unquenchable thirst for cheap energy. Its about absentee fat-cat land-lords making millions off land that shouldn’t be theirs. Its about morally corrupt local (and national) government putting profit before people. Join us 12-18 July in the Douglas Valley, South Lanarkshire, to build on 20 years of community struggle and four years of direct action against the UK’s biggest opencast mining company. It’s time to Take Back the Land!

Take Back the Land! will be a space for taking action, sharing skills and learning through doing. It will be a welcoming and safe space for all those wishing to challenge the social injustice and environmental destruction caused by opencast coal mining operations in Scotland and throughout the world.

Building on previous years experience at camps such as the Mainshill Solidarity Camp, the Happendon Wood Action Camp and events such as the Outdoor Skillshares, we will be establishing a base for a week of high impact action and low impact, sustainable living.

In solidarity with the communities of the Douglas Valley, we will be directly confronting the power structures and infrastructures which have dominated and scarred the valley for too long with a mass action planned for the 14th July and plenty of room for skilling up, recruitment and affinity group actions to be taken.

The camp location will be announced nearer to the time, but will be in close proximity to many of the opencast coal mines in the area.

Whilst we recognise the camp to be a space to take action against external oppression we also hope a create a space which challenges socialised behaviours that oppress and exclude others and we will try and make the camp as inclusive a space as possible, for all people wishing to be involved.

We are calling for all those wishing to take or support actions in solidarity with community self determination, against destructive fossil fuel industries and towards a more sustainable and just society, to come to South Lanarkshire from 12-18th July and help Take Back the Land!